Pacific Notes: Bogut, Clippers, Lakers
For all their struggles this season, the 7-7 Lakers are just a game out of first place in the Pacific Division, behind the Clippers and Warriors, who are tied at 8-6. We're still less than a month into the season, but the Clippers, who've lost four in a row, may wind up ruing their inability to keep their Staples Center rivals at arm's length. We've got both L.A. teams covered, plus more, as we round up the Pacific.
- Andrew Bogut won't return as planned on Saturday, and the Warriors center isn't sure when he'll play again, writes Carl Steward of the Bay Area News Group. Bogut thinks it was probably a mistake to rush his recovery from left ankle surgery so he could make it back for the start of the season. He played in four games before his latest absence.
- The relationship between Chris Paul and coach Vinny Del Negro, both in the final seasons of their contracts, could ride on the Clippers' ability to quickly return to winning, opines Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
- Antawn Jamison and Jodie Meeks have helped the Lakers' bench improve, but Jamison's play has come at the cost of minutes for fellow offseason signee Jordan Hill, notes Brian Kamenetzky of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
- We're in the midst of covering the Pacific Division in our Offseason In Review series, hitting the Warriors today with the rest of the division's teams to follow.
Offseason In Review: Golden State Warriors
Hoops Rumors is in the process of looking back at each team's offseason, from the end of the playoffs in June right up until opening night. Trades, free agent signings, draft picks, contract extensions, option decisions, camp invitees, and more will be covered, as we examine the moves each franchise made over the last several months.
Signings
- Carl Landry: Two years, $8MM. Signed via mid-level exception. Second year is player option.
- Brandon Rush: Two years, $8MM. Signed via Bird rights. Second year is player option.
- Kent Bazemore: Two years, $1.26MM. Signed via minimum salary exception. First year is partially guaranteed. Second year is non-guaranteed.
Extensions
Trades and Claims
- Acquired Jarrett Jack from the Hornets in exchange for Dorell Wright (sent to 76ers).
Draft Picks
- Harrison Barnes (Round 1, 7th overall). Signed via rookie exception.
- Festus Ezeli (Round 1, 30th overall). Signed via rookie exception.
- Draymond Green (Round 2, 35th overall). Signed via mid-level exception.
- Ognjen Kuzmic (Round 2, 52nd overall). Will play overseas.
Camp Invitees
- Carlon Brown
- Lance Goulbourne
- Stefhon Hannah
- Rick Jackson
- Tarence Kinsey
Departing Players
Rookie Contract Option Decisions
- Klay Thompson, $2.32MM: Exercised
Like the Bucks, whose offseason we reviewed over the weekend, the Warriors entered the summer having already made their blockbuster move of 2012. In fact, the Bucks were Golden State's trading partner back in March when both teams decided to part ways with longtime centerpieces. Monta Ellis headed for Milwaukee, with the Warriors landing a potential All-Star center in Andrew Bogut.
The move was certainly not the safe play for the Warriors. Ellis was an established 20 PPG scorer in a league where those players are rare. Golden State also hard to give up a young big with upside, Ekpe Udoh, to finalize the deal. The biggest concern of all though was Bogut's health — recovering from a broken ankle when the trade was made, Bogut didn't even see the floor for the Warriors in 2011/12.
For a team whose star player, Stephen Curry, was already dealing with ankle injuries, acquiring another potentially injury-prone star actually helped the Warriors in the short-term. Golden State's finish in the spring of 2012 was so dismal that the club lucked into the No. 7 overall pick in the draft lottery, ensuring that the top-seven-protected selection wouldn't be sent to the Jazz.
In the long-term? Bogut's injury woes are a bit more concerning. His surgically repaired ankle is still giving him trouble, and while Andrew Bynum's knee problems in Philadelphia are receiving more media attention and coverage, the situation with Bogut in Golden State is somewhat similar. The former first overall pick is under contract for an additional year, through 2014, but after suffering multiple major injuries throughout his career, there are questions about how much production the Warriors will ultimately receive from Bogut.
Still, like the pre-Bynum Sixers, the Warriors weren't on their way to becoming an elite team with Ellis leading the way, so even if Bogut doesn't pan out, the trade represented a worthwhile risk for Golden State. For teams that don't attract big-name free agents or luck their way into superstars in the draft, a certain number of gambles are necessary in order to try to build a championship contender. The Warriors were likely operating under that mindset when they reached a surprise extension agreement with Curry just before the Halloween deadline.
The years and dollars for Curry, four years at $44MM, are sizable considering the trouble the sharpshooter has had staying on the court. Still, if he had remained healthy through 2012/13, there could easily have been max-salary offers awaiting Curry in restricted free agency next summer. As such, the Warriors' decision to lock him up represents another calculated gamble, with the team doubling down on injury risks and moving forward with Curry and Bogut at its core.
With or without those two stars on the court, this team has plenty of talent from top to bottom. Klay Thompson was one of the most impressive rookies in the NBA last season, and was a popular pick to take another step forward and be the league's Most Improved Player this season. The aforementioned seventh overall pick that the team managed to keep turned into Harrison Barnes, who is already playing significant minutes for the club and could turn into a mainstay at the three spot. David Lee is overpaid and isn't a strong defender, but he's certainly a capable scorer and rebounder at the four.
The Warriors also made a series of offseason moves to bring in veteran help to complement a starting lineup that's talented but injury-prone. Carl Landry's two-year, $8MM deal was one of my favorite signings of the summer, and should work out well for the Warriors even if Landry opts out of the second year next summer. Brandon Rush's identical two-year contract also looked like a coup for the Warriors, though Rush suffered an early-season ACL injury that will keep him out for the season.
Golden State's only trade of the summer was a minor one, with the Warriors sending Dorell Wright to the Sixers in a deal that landed them Jarrett Jack. I like Wright, but with Barnes and Rush on board, there weren't going to be enough minutes to go around. And Jack was exactly the sort of player the team needed — a tough veteran who will provide insurance at the point and is more than capable of starting if Curry has to miss time.
With players like Curry, Thompson, and Barnes still in the developmental stages, the Warriors aren't on the verge of contending for a title this season. However, the roster is well-constructed enough that even relatively good health should put Golden State in position to fight for a postseason berth. The team is rolling the dice by building around players with injury histories like Curry and Bogut, but those sort of gambles are sometimes necessary to acquire and retain elite talent. Now it's just a matter of waiting to see whether those gambles pay off.
West Notes: Warriors, Aldridge, Blazers, Jazz
Here's a look at some items out of the Western Conference..
- Stephen Curry says that the Warriors' trade of Monta Ellis to the Bucks has significantly changed his approach to the game, writes Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld. Now more of a playmaker, Curry has embraced his adjusted role in Golden State. “The backcourt that we have, we mesh well together, especially with Jarrett [Jack] coming off the bench, so it’s been a different look, but we are getting used to each other and we are playing well," Curry explained. The club's acquisition in that trade, Andrew Bogut, figures to give them a major defensive boost upon his return.
- John Canzano of The Oregonian opines that the Blazers need to ease the burden placed on star big man LaMarcus Aldridge in order to help guard against his potential departure. Aldridge is under contract for $60MM through three more seasons and has yet to win a playoff series in Portland.
- For guard Kevin Murphy to return to the Jazz, General Manager Dennis Lindsey says that he hopes to see the rookie operate as a team player rather than a "pig scorer", write Brian T. Smith, Steve Luhm, and Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune. Murphy was demoted to the D-League earlier today and will be in Reno for a minimum of five games.
- One of the Blazers' biggest problems is that they have been unable to develop their recent draft picks into true contributors, tweets Mike Tokito of The Oregonian. The new CBA places extra emphasis on teams being able to get strong production out of their reasonably-priced younger players, which is obviously essential for a smaller-market team.
Odds & Ends: Warriors, Dwight, Davis, Brewer
It's an eight-game night in the NBA, and while not much attention will be focused on the Bobcats–Wizards tilt, it's certainly a change to find the 6-5 Bobcats on the other side of a game in which a team is starving for a win. While we wait to see if Washington can get its first victory in 11 tries this season, here's more from the Association.
- In a guest editorial for the Bay Area News Group, former Warriors and Grizzlies executive Andy Dolich expresses doubt that the Warriors will be able to open their arena on the San Francisco Bay by 2017, given the lengthy environmental impact review process that must take place (hat tip to Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com).
- Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com wonders if Dwight Howard, a free agent this summer, will question his commitment to the Lakers if the team's struggles continues (Twitter link).
- Glen Davis is looking forward to getting his first win against the Celtics, who traded him to the Magic before last season, notes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
- Corey Brewer has bounced around the league since he was picked seventh overall in in 2007, but with free agency looming next summer, the Nuggets' system has helped him finally live up to his promise, observes Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game (Sulia link).
- Benjamin Hoffman of The New York Times wonders what might have been if the Nets had kept their 2012 first-round draft choice and used it to select Damian Lillard, just as the Blazers did with the pick after they landed it in the Gerald Wallace deal.
- Lillard is atop the rookie rankings compiled by Chris Bernucca of SheridanHoops.com.
- Rookie Jae Crowder has been impressive at times for the Mavs, but his transition to the NBA has not been seamless, as Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star Telegram examines.
Pacific Rumors: Landry, Lakers, Bell, Barnes
All five Pacific Division teams are in action tonight, and four of the five are squaring off against opponents with records of .500 or better, including the Lakers, who have an opportunity to bounce back from an ugly loss to the Kings with a victory against the Grizzlies. The Suns figure to have the easiest go of it tonight, with a game against the Hornets, but that's certainly no guarantee for a rebuilding Phoenix squad. Here's more from the West Coast:
- Carl Landry is glad to have the stability of the two-year deal he signed with the Warriors this summer, as he tells HoopsWorld. The deal includes a player option for next season, so perhaps this is an early hint that Landry plans to opt in, though that's merely my speculation.
- Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times breaks down potential trade candidates for a Lakers deal involving Raja Bell, and says via Twitter that the team won't cut Robert Sacre to fit Bell on the roster.
- The Lakers' decision on Bell will come down to whether they believe he's an upgrade over offseason signee Jodie Meeks, opines Ben Golliver of SI.com.
- ESPN.com's Chris Palmer thinks the Lakers made a mistake letting Matt Barnes sign with the Clippers, and ESPNLosAngeles.com colleague Arash Markazi believes Barnes would be a better fit in purple and gold under Mike D'Antoni than he was with Mike Brown (Twitter links).
Odds & Ends: Rush, Salaries, Green, Draft
Happy Thanksgiving to our American readers! There may be no NBA games scheduled for tonight, but that doesn't mean our coverage will take a break, so thanks for reading. Here are a few odds and ends from a quiet Thursday in the NBA:
- Brandon Rush, who tore his ACL and MCL in the season's second game and figures to undergo surgery in December, spoke to Marcus Thompson of the Contra Costa Times about the injury and his player option for next season. "I was just trying to play the season out first," Rush said. "If we were going to win and make it to the playoffs, that was going to help out a lot during free agency next year — if I was to decline the option."
- Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld checks in on the salary cap situations for each of the NBA's 30 teams.
- After a year in which he underwent successful heart surgery and later signed a lucrative four-year deal with the Celtics, Jeff Green is "thankful for everything," as he tells A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.
- Joe Kotoch of Sheridan Hoops submits his early choices for 2013's top 10 draft prospects, with UCLA's Shabazz Muhammad leading the way.
Teams With Hard Caps
The Chicago Bulls' cap situation has been under the spotlight since July, with the team's hard cap preventing them from adding another player prior to the season. The Bulls' inflexibility makes them the most-discussed hard-capped club, but Chicago isn't the only team that faces that situation. Any club that committed more than $3.09MM in mid-level money to a player's 2012/13 salary has to deal with a hard cap as well.
In some cases, that hard cap will make no difference. A team like the Hawks, for instance, has more than $7MM in breathing room before they approach the $74,307,000 cap. As such, their flexibility shouldn't be handicapped as the trade deadline nears.
A few contenders though, such as the Celtics, are close enough to the hard cap that it'll be a factor they'll need to consider before making trades or signings later on in the season. While minimum-salary signings are still feasible, trades that involve taking on salary may be a no-go.
Here's the complete list of clubs whose team salary can't exceed $74,307,000 at any time this season, along with their current team salaries (per ShamSports):
- Bulls: $73,548,398
- Celtics: $71,918,029
- Warriors: $71,155,896
- Clippers: $69,866,604
- Spurs: $69,157,865
- Hawks: $66,537,025
Western Rumors: Wolves, Lakers, Lillard, Barnes
Fans in Minnesota will have something extra to be thankful for on the holiday tomorrow, after John Krawczynski of The Associated Press broke the news of Kevin Love's surprise return to the lineup for the Timberwolves tonight, between two and four weeks ahead of schedule (Twitter links). It seemed like the Wolves were close to becoming eligible for a hardship exemption that would allow them to sign a 16th player to their roster, when Brandon Roy joined Love, Ricky Rubio and Chase Budinger on the list of those expected to miss significant time. Now it appears Minnesota will have to make do with the standard 15, a trade-off the team will surely take if it means having Love back in action. Here's more from the West, with 14 of the conference's 15 teams in action.
- Speaking on Jim Rome's program on Showtime, Kobe Bryant defended Lakers executive vice president Jim Buss, saying it's up to the team's players to validate the hiring of coach Mike D'Antoni, notes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
- Damian Lillard's instant impact is speeding up the rebuilding process for the Blazers, writes Sam Amick of USA Today.
- Harrison Barnes learned how to win in college at North Carolina, and he's bringing some of those principles to the Warriors, observes HoopsWorld's Bill Ingram.
- It's no shock to Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau that Omer Asik, whose offer sheet with the Rockets wasn't matched by Chicago, has blossomed in a starting role, as Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times documents.
- We rounded up more on the Rockets and their Texas rivals earlier tonight.
Western Notes: Petrie, D’Antoni, Collison, Batum
Here are a few of today's noteworthy odds and ends from around the Western Conference:
- If the Maloofs are serious about trying to keep the Kings in Sacramento, they need to cut ties with team president Geoff Petrie, argues Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee. According to Voisin, the repeated mistakes made by the NBA's longest-tenured head of basketball operations have "stripped the once-proud franchise of its passion, its identity, its collective soul."
- Coach Mike D'Antoni will make his official debut on the Lakers' bench tonight, he confirmed today to the media, including Mike Trudell of Lakers.com.
- As the Mavericks prepare to face former Dallas point guard Jason Kidd and the Knicks tomorrow night, the Mavs' new point guard, Darren Collison is struggling, as NBA.com's Jeff Caplan writes.
- Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com details how Nicolas Batum's offseason trip to Cameroon gave him a new-found perspective on life during his free agent negotiations.
- Andrew Bogut, who has only appeared in four games during his Warriors' career, will miss at least three more contests before hopefully returning to practice next Monday, the team announced today in a press release.
- Another injured star in the West, Dirk Nowitzki, is now aiming to return to the Mavericks in mid-December, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.
Pacific Notes: D’Antoni, Dwight, Rambis, Barnes
Three Pacific Division teams are in action tonight, including the Lakers, who are expected to have Mike D'Antoni on the sideline for the first time. He'll square off against Jeremy Lin and the Rockets, and Howard Beck of The New York Times revisits the brief pairing of the two in New York, one that was beneficial for both, Beck says. We've got more today on D'Antoni, the Lakers, and other news from the Pacific.
- Dwight Howard, who told Howard Beck of The New York Times earlier this week he waived his early termination option last year with the Magic because he "wanted really to make everybody happy," wouldn't have pouted if the Magic had dealt him to the Rockets, writes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. "I would've gone there and played. I didn't have a problem with it. At the same time, there were two places that I'd rather go to and I'm here at one of them," said Howard, referring to the Lakers and presumably the Nets. "I'm happy. If I would've gone to Houston, I would've played as hard as I could with the Rockets."
- D'Antoni considered hiring former Phil Jackson aide Kurt Rambis as an assistant coach to address the complaints of Jackson's fans, but Rambis' criticism of D'Antoni on ESPN put the kibosh on that, reports Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game (Sulia link).
- Warriors coach Mark Jackson admits he plays "mind games" to help motivate rookie Harrison Barnes, who has begun to pay dividends, observes Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group.